Snow in October 10/30/2013

Carlsbad, NM was our ultimate destination today, by way of White Sands National Monument. We pulled into White Sands with no real expectations for what we'd find here. What a delight! Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield. I knew it would be something different when I looked at Google maps satellite picture of the place.

The ride there had us climbing the mountains and then going back down. We had a great view of the terrible smog that sits over that area. On our approach on Route 70, Border Patrol was checking all cars--ostensibly for citizenship. We were asked if we were citizens, and then allowed to continue.

White Sands is a stunning landscape of glistening white dunes. We took a few short hikes onto and around the dunes. Fall foliage on cottonwood trees and rabbitbush stood out on the stark white sands. Wind whipped the sand around and at us, creating ripples in the sand that made the scene look like a fabulous artwork. At one point on the trail, we saw what appeared to be a bush at the top of a dune. The sign there explained that we actually were standing at the crown of a cottonwood tree that was buried in a dune. As long as some leaves stay above the surface of the dune, the tree can survive. The road that runs the length of the Monument is part paved, part ... sand. When we reached the sand part, we both had the same reaction: we were driving on white sand that looked so much like snow! And we subsequently saw a grader that was grooming the road because it is constantly being covered by the wind with more sand. That grader looked way too much like a snow plow.

The view from the truck. It's NM in October not NH in December!

Such a beautiful and odd place!

The trip from Almogordo to Artesia, NM, where we were staying for the next 2 nights was fascinating. We traveled through such varied landscapes: mountainous to rolling hills decorated with golden cottonwood trees to flat desert open to the horizon. We drove through Hope, NM, a very small town studded with abandoned buildings, a store with a faded sign advertising homemade burritos, and a park designated by a sign and 3 picnic tables under shade shelters. We passed cotton fields, and oil derricks, and a natural gas field.

The KOA at which we are staying is large, clean, and the proprietors are very friendly. Tomorrow: Carlsbad Caverns!